In the light of growing reports of sexual harassment on young girls surfacing across India, the courage of a 14-year-old from Pune must be lauded. The brave teenager helped to put behind bars a peon from her school who allegedly molested girls and forced them to watch pornography.

The incident

According to Pune Mirror reports, Raghunath Choudhury, the 47-year-old accused was the peon at a private school in Kothrud, Pune. He had been harassing three girl students for the past few months, by inappropriately touching them and forcing them to watch pornography with him.

Reportedly, the accused caught hold of the students and abused them, while insisting them to “learn” from the pornographic content.

Apparently, the incidents have happened recurringly between February 3 and October 5, 2018. If any of the girls could escape his molestation attempts, he would threaten her for weeks to stop her from lodging any complaint. The ordeal could have continued had not one of the girls gathered up the courage to open up about the matter to her parents who made no delay to complain to the school authorities. The school conducted an internal probe into the complaints on the course of which the other two 13-year-old victims also came forward.

Police suspect more cases of abuse in the school

The school authorities informed the Kothrud police with collective complaint letters from all the victims, following which Choudhury was charged with inappropriately touching a minor, under Section 7 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 as well as under IPC Section 354 for assault or criminal force to woman with the intent to outrage her modesty. He has been remanded in judicial custody until the investigation is completed.

Appasaheb Shevale, the Kothrud police inspector, suspects that there could be more unreported cases against the accused. “There could be more skeletons in the cupboard. We hope to receive more complainants through the school officials to mount more case on him,” he told Pune Mirror.

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Partner Story

This Diwali Let Us Rebuild Schools To Secure A Better Future For The Country

We all have memories attached to our schools. Yes, obviously we do, otherwise, why would we be all excited for our school’s 10-year reunion? Because reunions are the time when we get to relive those juvenile memories and cherish the good old days.

The times we shared the same bench with our best friend and played tic tac toe on the desk. The times we took toilet breaks in the middle of a class only to secretly loiter around the corridors. The brilliant lunches we shared with our friends on the school playground during recess. Reminiscing over these memories warms our hearts.

Did you know that at least 35 million children between the age group of 6-14 do not attend school in India? There have been several reports that girls drop out of school because of a lack of basic facilities such as toilets. These children are not only missing out on basic education, but they are also missing out on those wonderful memories.

In a bid to make early education accessible to all, HIL Limitedhas taken a wonderful initiative. HIL Limited believe in the fact that when we do things together, better things happen, standing by their philosophy of ‘Together We Build’. In the film, you can see a small child Kamli. The naive child makes a colorful paper lantern for Diwali and gifts it to her school, which is in shambles. She is eager to learn and her adamant heart still gives her the hope that the colourful lantern might make her broken school a little brighter. After her Diwali holidays, when she comes back to her school and finds it prettier her heart rejoices.

HIL Limited believes that education is the right step towards bringing young minds together and creating a feeling of togetherness. Their social initiative has helped 75,000 children like Kamli by rebuilding their schools.

Now, these children would not miss out on basic education. They will also get to make beautiful memories that they will cherish for a very long time. This would also make their future stronger and more reliable. If you know any such school that needs attention, then please write to[email protected].

The Logical Indian appreciates HIL Limited for the wonderful initiative they have taken to make the future of so many underprivileged children better. Children are the future of the country and we hope that by making their future secure, we are taking our country forward.